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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24086833">Father's Fire</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/havenshereagain/pseuds/havenshereagain'>havenshereagain</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Autistic Matteo [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Druck | SKAM (Germany)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Autistic Matteo, Homophobia, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:01:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,847</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24086833</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/havenshereagain/pseuds/havenshereagain</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Direct follow up to Polish and Piercing. </p><p>After posting a picture of himself with his new nose piercing and purple nails, Matteo receives a bunch of angry texts from his father, revealing his cousin had sent a photo to him, and prompting Matteo to get back into contact with his cousin.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Matteo Florenzi/David (Druck)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Autistic Matteo [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559407</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>53</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Father's Fire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Thank you to Harper (gleedegrassi-bigfan) as always, but especially for commenting inspiring me to write this follow up!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Matteo and David were watching a movie with Laura when Matteo's phone started vibrating - which was unusual since he kept his phone on Do Not Disturb, with only David and his mom being on emergency bypass for calls and texts. David glanced at him, brow furrowed in confusion and he shrugged, picking it up from the end table where it had been charging. His eyes widened when he saw that it was his dad calling him and he quickly turned the screen to David, who had the same reaction to seeing the name on the screen, but also reached out to grab the remote and pause the movie.</p><p>"What's going on?" Laura asked from her seat, curled up on the other end of the sofa in a blanket. Matteo and David looked at each other for a moment, then David turned to glance at his sister, and back to Matteo, unsure what to say. </p><p>After a pause Matteo mumbled, "uh, my dad is calling. Not sure how that happened." By then the call had ended, and he unlocked his phone, seeing two missed calls now from his father. He immediately went to his settings, trying to figure out how his dad's call had gotten through. That was when he realized that "Repeat Calls" was on, meaning if someone called him twice back to back, the second call would go through. Before he got the chance to turn it off, his phone started buzzing again, this time without the option to decline the call, as his phone did when the screen was on and a call came through. </p><p>"Do you need to answer?" Laura questioned. Matteo instinctively shook his head, and after a shrug, Laura grabbed the remote from where it sat in David's lap, putting the movie back on. He let his phone ring through the call, then turned the "Repeated Calls" function off and put his phone face down on the table. His father had a pattern when it came to these calls. Call three or four times, then send several texts asking and telling Matteo to pick up the phone, about whatever topic he felt they needed to talk about. </p><p>And Matteo knew exactly what his father wanted to talk about. Three days ago, he'd gotten his nose pierced and sent a picture to his mom, featuring both the new piercing, and his purple nails (which he'd been picking at throughout the movie - he'd have to ask David to redo them soon) who had posted the picture to Facebook. He'd let his mom post it to spite his dad, knowing the strong negative reaction he'd have, and angry at his recent attempt to get Matteo into conversion therapy.</p><p>After the fact though, after some of the anger calmed down, there was a knot stuck in his stomach, heavy while he waited to hear from his father. And now that he had, it was taking over his thoughts, distracting him from whatever movie Laura had chosen. He looked down at his hands, which had resumed chipping away at his nail polish after he'd put his phone down again, nervous energy needing a way out. When he felt a hand on his thigh it took him a moment to process it, realizing it was David trying to get his attention.</p><p>"You okay?" he whispered, trying not to distract Laura from the movie, and still half paying attention while Matteo was lost in his own mind. Matteo gave a half smile, tired, and shrugged, not quite sure how to answer. Over David's shoulder he saw Laura glance at them, picking up on the fact that something wasn't right. She grabbed the remote off the arm of the couch and paused the movie again.</p><p>"We can finish this another time, okay?" she said with a reassuring smile, already moving off of the couch and towards her room. "Right now, just deal with whatever's going on. I hope it's all okay." And with that, she disappeared down the hallway, a moment later hearing her bedroom door click shut. Matteo was staring blankly at the entranceway to the living room, still processing what Laura had said. The whole situation with his dad caused his brain to turn into mush, processing speeds down to what they were when he first woke up in the morning. </p><p>"I'm sorry," he muttered to no one in particular, fingers moving absentmindedly to tangle in the blanket in his lap, twisting the fabric between his fingers. David placed a gentle hand on his arm, drawing Matteo's eyes to him.</p><p>"It's okay," he assured. "Do you want to talk about it?" Matteo shrugged, unsure how well he'd be able to organize his thoughts, or how well his mouth would cooperate with his brain right now. Things were fuzzy, and it felt like his mouth was stuck. He reached for his phone, unlocking it and ignoring all the notifications labelled <strong>Emiliano</strong>, going into his conversation with David instead.</p><p><strong>To - David:</strong> Words are too hard. I'm freaking out about what my dad has to say, even though I knew this was gonna happen</p><p>While he was typing, David had grabbed his own phone, used to the system they'd built for when Matteo can't verbalize his thoughts. It only took a second for his phone to buzz, and a moment later, one hand dropped to Matteo's knee, rubbing comfortingly while Matteo resumed picking at his nail polish. "Do you want me to look?" David asked, gesturing towards Matteo's phone. After a moment thinking about it Matteo nodded, wanting to get the first wave of messages over with. They both knew his father usually texted in German, not wanting to deal with Matteo's misspelled Italian. </p><p>David grabbed the phone out of Matteo's lap, unlocking it as he went, and Matteo saw even more notifications from his father. With that he looked back down at his hands, which were now picking off the last bits of purple stuck around his skin. There was silence while David read through the messages Matteo had gotten, and Matteo knew it was David's way of protecting him from the harshness of them.</p><p>"They're um," David started, struggling to find the words. "They’re not good." Matteo nodded, bringing one hand to his mouth to bite at a piece of skin on his thumb. After a moment he dropped his hand back to his lap, his other hand coming to pick at the bit of skin his teeth couldn't get to. "He uh, he's blaming your mom again. And me. There's a bit about you going into conversion therapy. Cursing." Matteo winced and looked at his hands, realizing he'd started bleeding. </p><p>"Oh shit," he mumbled, shoving his thumb back into his mouth, but too numb to do much else. David gently grabbed his hand, pulling it from his mouth to see the damage. He'd done the same thing a few days prior after his last conversation with his dad.</p><p>"I'm going to get a band-aid," David said, patting Matteo's hand and already starting to stand. Matteo made a small noise, unsure how to communicate that he didn't want to be left alone, David giving him a reassuring smile from the doorway. He'd put Matteo's phone back onto the table, screen still unlocked, and Matteo leaned forward, looking at the texts. When he got into this headspace sometimes all he would do was make things worse for himself, which he definitely felt seeing some of the things his father written. He was about to pick up the phone when David came back into the room, shoving the phone aside and sitting on the table in front of him.</p><p>David gently grabbed his hand again, wiping his thumb softly with a paper towel to remove some of the blood that had pooled against his nail before opening the band-aid and wrapping it around his thumb. When he was done, he tangled their fingers together and brought their joint hands to his mouth to give Matteo's a gentle kiss, a small smile on his lips. "Come on," he whispered, standing and pulling Matteo to his feet.</p><p>Matteo followed him down the hall, phones left in the living room, while they headed into David's room. David shut the door, and Matteo stood, blankly staring around the room while his fingers twisted in the hem of his sweater. His toes curled on the bare floor, and David sighed, gently guiding him to the bed. When they reached the bed, Matteo climbed on, turning on his side to face David, who grabbed the blanket to cover them, pulling it up around their shoulders before reaching out to Matteo, who eagerly grabbed his shirt, tugging him close and burying his head in David's shoulder. </p><p>They laid like that, David gently running a hand through Matteo's hair, for a while before Matteo spoke up, "I want to read all the messages." He pulled back to look at David, whose brow furrowed, and he slightly shook his head.</p><p>"Are you sure?" he asked. "It was pretty bad." Matteo looked down, blindly reaching for the hand David didn't have tangled in his hair and twining their fingers together. He took a moment, thinking and took a deep breath. </p><p>"I think it's better to just, get it over with," he explained. David stared intently at him, and Matteo squirmed, eyes darting over his face and hair. His fingers twisted against David's, needing some stim to get out some of his nervous energy over the texts that awaited him in the other room. </p><p>"Okay," David finally said. There was another moment of silence, David thinking, and Matteo twisted his fingers again, unsure how to continue. "I understand. You just want to get it over with and deal with the emotions." Matteo nodded with more energy than he'd had all evening. After a moment, David pulled back, and Matteo nearly protested, but David stopped him saying, "I'm just going to grab your phone. I'll be right back," and pressed a gentle kiss to Matteo's forehead. </p><p>Matteo sighed, shifting onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. His hands came together on top of the blanket, fingers playing with the edges of the band-aid on his thumb. Normally he would've objected to the band-aid, he'd always hated the way they restricted the use of his fingers and the sensory input he got from them. It wasn't long before David came back into the room, quietly shutting the door. While he walked back to the bed Matteo sat up against the wall.</p><p>"Are you sure you want to do this?" David asked as he sat down, fingers wrapped tightly around Matteo's locked phone. "The things he said.. they were pretty bad. I know you want to get it over with, but, I just don't know if this is a good idea." At that Matteo sighed, bringing one hand up to twist into his hair, suddenly unsure. Before he even realized it though, he was nodding, even as his stomach did flips. David looked down at the phone in his lap and back up to Matteo before sighing and handing it to him. </p><p>The texts had all been read, meaning David must have checked any new ones before coming back, and there were four missed calls. He opened his texting app and took a deep breath to steel himself before opening the conversation with his father. It took him a moment to scroll up far enough to see the first message. </p><p><strong>From - Emiliano:</strong> What the hell is this?<br/>
[IMG]</p><p>The photo was a screenshot of his mother's post - the photo of him rolling his eyes and smiling at David after getting his nose pierced, stud and purple nail polish on full display. He'd left the caption, which read 'My beautiful boy got his nose pierced! It'll take some time to adjust to, but I'm proud of him for living his life how he wants. And happy his wonderful boyfriend was there to take this photo!' That made him smile, previously unaware of what his mother had actually said past posting the picture. But he knew there was more from his dad. </p><p><strong>From - Emiliano:</strong> Did that damn David put you up to this?<br/>
Did your mother put you up to this?<br/>
I can't fucking believe you would disgrace the Florenzi name like this.<br/>
Nail polish? A nose piercing? What's next, a fucking dress?<br/>
And this?<br/>
[IMG]</p><p>The second photo was a screenshot of his Instagram post, causing his mouth to drop open. He looked over himself, mouth open in laughter and middle finger up, re-read the caption, 'Thanks @da_vid.gif for the moral support while i paid someone to punch a hole in my face.' Whoever had sent the picture to his father had liked the photo before sending it. </p><p><strong>From - Emiliano:</strong> Your cousin Valeria sent me this one.<br/>
She always was a good one.<br/>
What does your employer think of this behavior?<br/>
You'd probably lose your job if they knew any of it.</p><p>At that Matteo couldn’t help but snort. He stayed in the kitchen all night, what he looked like didn't matter. Half of his coworkers were queer. What he couldn't believe was that Val had sent the picture to his dad. The two had always enjoyed spending time together when Matteo went to visit his family, being the closest among the cousins. He would have to message her once he finished reading the messages. </p><p><strong>From - Emiliano:</strong> If your nonna saw you like this, she'd have a heart attack.<br/>
Is that what you're trying to do? Shock me to an early grave?<br/>
This shit is why we need to get you into therapy.<br/>
You should've come to Italy with me, none of this would have happened.<br/>
I knew leaving you alone with her was a bad idea.</p><p>Before he could stop himself he was typing out an angry reply, but luckily David's hand on his stopped him. He sighed, dropping his phone into his lap, and David dragged him into a tight hug. "I'm sorry," Matteo mumbled into his neck, eyes squeezing shut to stop the tears he hadn't realized had built up. </p><p>"You don't have to apologize," David whispered back, rubbing a hand through the hair at the nape of Matteo's neck. He melted against David, anger temporarily forgotten in place of exhaustion. </p><p>"I just don't get it," he explained, leaning back and picking up his phone again. He deleted the angry words he'd typed out before scrolling back up to the second picture. "I don't know why Val would send this to him." At that he shoved the phone at David, showing him the image and texts he knew he'd already seen. "She and I got along so well growing up. Of all of my cousins, she's the last I would've thought to send him that."</p><p>"She liked it though," David said softly, pointing out the red heart in the photo. Matteo nodded, turning the phone back around and looking at the image she'd sent his father again. He sighed again, backing out of his messaging app and going to Instagram, brow furrowing when he saw he had a notification there. </p><p>When he pulled down his notification bar, he saw that it was a message from Val, sent in the middle of his father's ire. He clicked it, confused as to why she had already messaged him and not fully processing the blurb of the message he could see. </p><p><strong>Sent 25 February, 19:42<br/>
val.flo:</strong> Matteo, I think I messed up. I sent the pic of you with your nose ring to your dad, and the way he responded was really weird<br/>
[IMG]</p><p>She'd included a screenshot of the short conversation, her initial text being excitement over Matteo's new look, and complimenting him to his father, whose response was curt, thanking her for letting him know what Matteo had been posting and letting her know they would talk about it. It seemed his father had completely ignored what Valeria had to say about the picture, only focusing on the photo itself. </p><p><strong>Sent 25 February, 19:46<br/>
val.flo:</strong> I thought he already knew about it all, so I didn't think anything of sending it to him and letting him know how good it was to see you smiling like that again. I don't think I've seen you smile like that since we were little<br/>
I'm really sorry Matteo, I hope everything is okay</p><p>He sat back, shocked that she'd been kept so much in the dark. After a moment he started typing, David attempting to read it upside down. As much trouble as her sending the picture seemed to have caused, Matteo knew she never meant to hurt him.</p><p><strong>Sent 25 February, 20:21<br/>
matteohno:</strong> Hey Val sorry for the late reply, I was dealing with my dad. Don't worry about it, okay? He found out anyways, I wanted him to, its not your fault. And I know you would never hurt me on purpose, you're the best of our cousins<br/>
Do you really not know whats been going on though? With my parents?</p><p>Matteo went to show David the messages and for a moment David just stared at him before he remembered that David couldn't actually read Italian. "She uh," he started, then cleared his throat, voice slightly hoarse, "she didn't realize how bad his reaction was. She was just happy to see me happy and wanted to share that with him." David nodded, peering at the messages, but Matteo knew he didn't really understand what was there.</p><p>"What'd you say to her?" he asked. </p><p>"I just told her it was okay," Matteo explained. "She must not know what's happened with my parents, it was an accident. Plus, how would she know how grossly homophobic my dad is? I'm the first gay one in the family, and no one else really knows. Well, unless they follow me on Instagram, I guess." He looked back down at his phone, realizing Val had already responded to him.</p><p><strong>Sent 25 February, 20:23<br/>
val.flo:</strong> Im really really sorry Matti. I feel so bad<br/>
But no, my parents havent told me anything??<br/>
They just said uncle Emil was back in italy for the time being but that i was "too young" and theyd "explain eventually" 🙄<br/>
As though a 17 y.o is too young to know about divorces</p><p>At that he couldn't help but laugh. This was why he and her had always gotten along so well. Their parents would baby them, but they always knew the worst things. They were bad influences on each other, always explaining whatever "adult" concepts they'd learned since they'd last seen each other. Valeria just had a more innocent face and more gullible parents, so she got away with it, especially given how sheltered she was at home. While he was thinking, she had sent another message.</p><p><strong>Sent 25 February, 20:26<br/>
val.flo:</strong> Then again, these are the parents who still think i dont know what "gay" means though, lol<br/>
Wait, does uncle Emil know youre gay? Did i out you???</p><p>He quickly typed out a response to that, not wanting her to work herself up into thinking she'd outed him to his dad by sending the picture, even though the picture also didn't say anything about him being gay at all. </p><p><strong>Sent 25 February, 20:27<br/>
matteohno:</strong> No, you didnt out me, dont worry about that<br/>
Thats actually something hes been on my case about tho<br/>
Thinks my mom or bf turned me gay somehow<br/>
But yeah, dad fucked off to italy last year, weve barely talked since<br/>
Other than him getting upset about me not having a job, or a gf, and then about me being gay once i told him about David<br/>
So wait, do all the cousins know im the gay cousin now?</p><p>His own dumb joke made him laugh and David looked at him with a quirked eyebrow. Matteo shook his head, but did explain the conversation a bit, "Val doesn't know what's been going on with my parents at all. Her parents said she's "too young,"" he added air quotes to get across the full weight of the words, "so they haven't told her shit about it. I explained a bit of it to her, and also let her know that she didn't out me to my dad with the picture." </p><p><strong>Sent 25 February, 20:34<br/>
val.flo:</strong> Oh shit, im really sorry to hear that<br/>
We should facetime or something sometime to catch up, i miss you<br/>
Also, who said youre THE gay cousin? </p><p>At that, his jaw dropped. Had his favorite cousin just come out to him? David put a hand on his shoulder to grab his attention. "Is everything okay?" he asked once he knew Matteo was listening. He nodded, but before he could respond, another message came through. </p><p><strong>Sent 25 February, 20:37<br/>
val.flo:</strong> (jk im bi)<br/>
(also pls dont tell anyone, im not out yet)</p><p>"Well," he stated, putting his phone in his lap for a second. David stared at him, and he continued, "turns out, I'm not the only queer Florenzi. Valeria just came out to me. I mean, she said not to tell anyone, but I'm guessing she means 'anyone in the family' not just anyone in general. Or at least like, I think telling you is fine." </p><p>David nodded, and Matteo started typing again, a small smile on his face. The conversation with his father was mostly forgotten, focus instead on catching up with his cousin, who he hadn't seen since he was 15 years old. </p><p><strong>Sent 25 February, 20:40<br/>
matteohno:</strong> Duuude i cant believe it!<br/>
No wonder we got along so well as kids, lol<br/>
But yeah, dw im not gonna tell anyone (as though id actually talk to anyone else besides you and maybe ur brother)<br/>
Think ur parents would ever let u visit me in berlin? Haha</p><p>"I can't believe it," he said softly. He placed his phone back into his lap, looking up at David. "Somehow this all kind of turned out for the better? Like yeah, my dad is shit, we been knew, but it also led to me and Val talking again? And I didn't even realize how much I'd missed seeing her after not spending summers at nonna's together anymore." David was smiling at him, a hand on his thigh and a light in his eyes that had disappeared the moment he saw <strong>Emiliano</strong> on Matteo's screen. </p><p>Sure, he still had to deal with his father at some point, and would probably end up in a text-argument with him the next day, but for that night, he could focus on the good that came out of it, and enjoy catching up with his cousin. </p><p><strong>Sent 25 February, 20:46<br/>
val.flo:</strong> Lol, yea right, yk how they are<br/>
I could try, just gotta make sure ur dad doesnt get in their heads<br/>
Think we could facetime now tho?<br/>
<strong>matteohno:</strong> As long as ur cool meeting David rn<br/>
<strong>val.flo:</strong> id love to!</p>
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